A Flighty Affair
by Athena Blackquill
Summary: Athena Cykes x Simon Blackquill. Others pairings may pop in. Major Ace Attorney 5: Dual Destinies spoilers. Simon adjusts to life outside of prison, which leads to a different kind of adventure. (Image Credit: Tumblr user raedoodles)
1. Chapter 1

It had been nearly a year since Simon Blackquill's name had been cleared and his life spared, thanks to the Wright Anything Agency's efforts. He had been falsely, yet intentionally on his part, convicted of murdering his mentor, Metis Cykes. Metis's daughter, Athena Cykes, had spent every moment she could studying to become a lawyer in order to prove Simon's innocence. With the help of Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice, she had been able to show Simon didn't kill her mother. More importantly, to Simon anyway, Athena's name had been cleared during that trial as well. A man known only as the Phantom had been found and prosecuted for the murder, which is ironically who the darkly-clad prosecutor had been searching for when he first mentored under Metis. Simon was eternally grateful to the Wright Anything Agency, though he would never let them know that.

The prosecutor had been able to keep his job thanks to the efforts of his boss, Miles Edgeworth, a man he deeply respected. Since then, Simon had been able to prove himself as an intimidating lawyer capable of psychological manipulation. He worked with Edgeworth to partner with defense lawyers in order to search for the truth, rather than simply win the case. Simon's false conviction, as well as someone planting falsified evidence on Wright, had led to a dark age of the law, which they worked fervently to end. The two groups-the prosecutors under Miles Edgeworth and the defense lawyers under Phoenix Wright-had made excellent progress toward this goal, but there was still plenty of work to be done.

Today, Simon had been called to collect some evidence for a case Edgeworth was prosecuting. Unfortunately, Edgeworth had been called away at the last minute and thus could not retrieve it himself, which is what he preferred to do. Simon offered to get it for him. Making his way through the crowded courthouse lobby, Simon moved deftly between groups of people (those that didn't move out of the intimidating prosecutor's way, that is) and headed straight toward the office the courthouse had provided for Detective Gumshoe. He had no intention of staying very long, as he would rather not to be around many people when possible. He much preferred the company of Taka, his hawk, who usually sat on his shoulder and attacked people when they were lying or being foolish, and Athena, who he had grown closer to since his release.

"Blaaaaaaaaaaacckquiiiiiiiiiiillllllllll!" a voice rang out in the courthouse.

Simon sighed and turned around as a blur of yellow approached him. "Cykes-dono, yell any louder and they'll hold you in contempt of court... And it's not even in session."

Not paying any attention to Simon's snide remark, Athena ran up to him and pulled his arm so his head was near hers. Taka screeched and flew off to rest on a flag hanging in the lobby. "You cut your hair!" she squealed, and started running her fingers through it. Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice followed behind her sheepishly.

"Ngh, Cykes-dono..." Simon turned a little red. "It's just hair..."

"Wow! You look so much younger this way! This reminds me of when you worked with my mom!" She turned to her fellow defense attorneys. "Doesn't it look great?"

Phoenix laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Well, hair can make or break the man, Blackquill. Looks good!" Apollo simply nodded, trying not to laugh at the image of Athena preening the prosecutor.

"I take it you're here for a case?" Simon asked, somehow managing to break free and stand up straight, shaking his hair out. Taka returned to his shoulder and glared at Athena. She backed away, slowly.

Phoenix shook his head. "Actually, we called your office and learned you were here. We were wonde-"

"We should have a party!" Athena interrupted, clapping her hands together.

Simon smiled and shook his head. Knowing the answer, he asked, "And just what would the occasion be?"

Athena held her left elbow in her right hand and looked away. "Well, you know..." When Simon didn't answer, she responded by holding her fists out in front of her, a determined look on her face. "It's been a year since you were proven innocent! We're happy you're still here and we should celebrate that!"

Simon shook his head again. "Cykes-dono, I am not inclined toward holding any festivities for that. Besides, too much noise upsets Taka, and _you _make too much noise." He laughed at his own joke.

"That evil bird..." Athena mumbled. "Well it was just an idea! It's just, it's almost been a year, you know? Like an anniversary of sorts."

"I hadn't been paying attention," Simon lied. "I've been more focused on doing my duties as a lawyer, unlike a certain baby chick I know." He smirked. Athena tried to glare menacingly at Simon, but he laughed the look off. "If you are ever to intimidate another lawyer, Cykes-dono, you will need to work a bit harder." Simon bowed and added, "If you'll excuse me." He waved disinterestedly as he walked away, feather in his mouth.

After he was out of earshot, Athena asked her fellow defense attorneys, "Did he seem happy to you?"

Apollo made a face. "Does Blackquill know what that emotion is?" Phoenix laughed, but Athena scowled.

"I dunno, he just seems more happy around us than usual."

"I think he just gets enjoyment out of teasing you, Athena," Phoenix said. Apollo nodded in agreement.

Athena flushed. "Wh-why would it have anything to do with me?"

"Oh?" Phoenix smirked. "Would that bother you?"

"Well, no..." Athena responded thoughtfully. She _had _spent time with him over the past few months, mostly at her request. They'd occasionally gone to Eldoon's noodle stand, but Simon preferred to eat sushi or tempura, which Eldoon's did not have. Other times they would go to museums and Simon would rattle off information about any exhibits that featured Japanese culture. They usually had a good time, Simon teasing Athena and Athena getting worked up over his jokes, or the two of them reminiscing about the past, when Athena's mother was still alive. Once, much to Athena's embarrassment, Simon even brought her some drawings she'd made for him when she was a child. He claimed his sister, Aura, had them stashed away somewhere, but she thought that surely Aura would have burned anything Athena had ever made. She was sure Simon had actually kept them, which embarrassed her even more for some reason.

Athena sighed. "I think he does remember that the anniversary is coming up, and that's why he's so happy."

Apollo made a face again. "Using 'Blackquill' and 'happy' without the 'not' just seems wrong." Athena punched his shoulder. "Ow! But in all seriousness, are you picking that up with your hearing or what? He looks... normal... to me."

Athena's power-to hear others' emotions, even if they say they're feeling a different way-often came in handy, especially during cases, when witnesses weren't always honest.

"Yeah, I can definitely tell that he's happier lately!"

Phoenix held his hand up to his chin, thinking. "Well, I hate to harp on it, but you _have_ been spending more time than usual with him lately. Maybe seeing you just cheers him up, especially considering a year ago both of you were in danger."

Athena sighed. "I guess that's it," she agreed, "but it just seems like it's something else I can't quite put my finger on."

Phoenix laughed. "Well, I guess you'll just have to get Gumshoe to help you investigate the case." Apollo held his face in his palm.

It was Athena's turn to make a face. "That guy couldn't find the gum on his shoe if it came up and kicked him in the head..."

Apollo grimaced. "That was painful, Athena..."

Ignoring Apollo, Athena threw a finger up in the air. "Aha! I have an idea. Let's throw him a _surprise _party!" Apollo groaned. "Oh come on, it'll be fun! Phoenix, you could get Miles to help, I'm sure." She smiled as sweetly as she could.

"Uh," Phoenix responded, rubbing the back of his head, "I can _try_. Miles isn't exactly the festive type either."

"Maybe that's a prosecutor thing," Apollo offered.

"Phoenix, promise you'll try!"

Phoenix laughed. "Okay, okay, I'll try." He sighed. "But that means I need to go to Miles's office again..." He shook his head. "I always end up spending too much time in there. The man always wants a cup of tea." Apollo gave a look that suggested he didn't believe the defense attorney, and Phoenix responded with a confused look of his own.

"Great! We'll get supplies. See you later!" Athena pulled Apollo's arm and dragged him out the door.

Phoenix watched the pair leave and crossed his arms, shaking his head. "Those two..."

"Are they going to throw me a party anyway?" he heard behind him, and jumped. Simon laughed. "Wright-dono, you must never be off your guard. I once shared a cell with a man who had learned that lesson the hard way after he tried to steal from an off-duty officer and didn't notice the officer's _on-duty_ partner getting a cup of coffee nearby."

"You... shared a cell with a lot of weird people," Phoenix responded. "But uh, yes, Athena wants to surprise you. Please don't tell her I told you that."

"Not a problem," Simon responded. "You won't need to go to Miles, either. He's out of town. But I'll make sure he comes to the party as well."

"How did you...?"

Simon walked toward the courthouse doors and smirked, looking behind him. "Taka has excellent hearing," he responded.

Phoenix stared at the duo in disbelief. A bird overhearing their conversation? "This day just keeps getting weirder..."


	2. Chapter 2

When Simon told his supervisor what their favorite defense attorneys had planned for Simon, Miles laughed. "I never figured you for a party-goer, Simon." He picked up a teacup from his desk and motioned toward the tea set for Simon to make himself some. Simon bowed in thanks and fixed himself some black tea, afterward sitting in the chair in front of Edgeworth's desk.

Simon shook his head. "I am not, nor have I ever been, particularly fond of parties. However, it seems to be important to Cykes-dono, so the least I can to do at least feign surprise. Besides," Simon reached up and pet Taka, "I don't think that I could stop her even if I tried."

Miles shrugged and placed the teacup back down on his desk. "If she's anything like Nick, then you're correct. She would throw you a party whether you showed up or not." He sighed and added, "I suppose it would be rude to ignore the hospitality. Do we know when this is happening?"

Simon answered in the negative, so Miles picked up the phone and pressed 1 on his speed dial. After a couple rings, someone picked up. "Hello Trucy. Yes, it's Miles. Is Nick there?" A pause, then, "Excellent, yes I'd like to speak with him." Another pause, and the prosecutor blushed slightly. "N-no, it's for work, Trucy... Yes, I will be there this we-" Miles seemed to remember Simon was in the room, "-um, please put Mr. Wright on... Yes. Thank you." He sighed and turned to glance out the open window behind him, possibly still a bit red, as he waited for Trucy to get Phoenix on the phone.

Miles had an odd relationship with the Wrights, Simon mused, but it seemed to work out okay for them. He sipped silently on his tea while Taka preened himself.

"Yes, Nick, it's Miles. I-what?" A few more more moments of silence as Miles turned back to Simon and rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, Trucy reminded me. I'm aware of that... Nick... Nick... PHOENIX. When is this supposed 'surprise party'?" Simon could hear an exclamation on the other end of the phone, and Miles placed his head in his hand. "Yes, that's all I wanted to ask, thank you. Please let me know when Ms. Cykes has more details... Yes, we'll be there... Yes, Simon has agreed to feign surprise, since it is, after all, a surprise party... Yes, thank you." He hung up the phone and adjusted his cravat nervously.

"They have no idea."

Simon laughed heartily. "That seems to have been a lot of work for such a pitiful answer."

"Er, yes, well... Trucy has a magic show this weekend, and the two of them are very excited for it, and as such every time I call I'm reminded by both of them that it's happening." Miles ran his fingers through his hair and adjusted his cravat again, then picked up his tea for another drink. He had a look on his face that suggested he prefer his cup be filled with alcohol at that particular moment.

Simon found himself wondering how often Edgeworth actually called Phoenix, but decided against asking the question. Calmly, he finished his tea, placed it on Edgeworth's desk, and stood. "Thank you for the tea, Edgeworth-dono. I suppose I should get back to work. Oh, yes." He motioned toward the open window, and Taka flew out, returning after a few moments with a folder. "This is from Gumshoe, those documents you requested earlier."

"Ah, yes, thank you." He flipped through the folder and nodded, until he came upon a note stashed in there. He held it up and sighed, then handed it to Simon. "Please throw that away."

Simon couldn't help but look at it on his way out the door. It was a long, rambling handwritten note from Detective Gumshoe detailing how glad he was to be able to help Edgeworth with the case, and how if he needed anything, just call him up and let him know, and Missile (_Who is Missile?_ Simon wondered) missed him, and maybe sometime they could go out for a steak lunch, he did get a bonus this time around, and of course to let him know if the prosecutor needed anything. Simon smirked and carefully placed the letter on the very top of the trash can, should his supervisor have a change of heart.

-

Athena dragged Apollo to five or six different stores, picking up decorations ("Athena don't you think you're overdoing it with the bird patterns?-Okay no, you're not picking up this jailbird statue, that's just low... Wait why would they even make these, anyway?") and everything else needed for a surprise party. By the time they were done, Apollo was dragging his feet (as well as several bags), but somehow Athena was even more excited and energetic.

"I can't wait to decorate the office! Trucy will love this. Do you know if she'll be around?" Athena didn't seem weighed down by the bags she was carrying at all.

"I don't know, Clay was supposed to take her to Shipshape Aquarium later on today. She might be around tonight, though. When are we going to hold this thing anyway?"

Athena thought for a moment. "Well, today is Monday, so maybe Thursday? That'll give boss enough time to get Edgeworth to plan to get him out of the office."

Apollo nodded. "That makes sense." He looked down at his bags and sighed. "Where are we going to keep all this, anyway?" The two began walking toward the subway station that would take them back to the office. They lucked out, and the train arrived shortly after they did.

"Oh, I'm sure Trucy has room somewhere!" Athena said cheerfully as she stepped on the train.

_This is going to be a train wreck,_ Apollo thought to himself, but was smart enough to not say those words aloud.

"Wh-what is all this?" Phoenix asked as the two carried everything into the office.

Athena put the bags down and flashed a peace sign. "This is for the party!"

Phoenix gave Apollo a look that suggested Apollo hadn't done a good enough job reining her in. As Apollo passed him to begin putting some of the bags up, he muttered to Phoenix, "You should have seen the stuff she didn't buy that she wanted to."

After Trucy and Clay returned to the office, Trucy and Athena spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the place. ("Why are you doing it so early?" Apollo asked, but of course they ignored him.) Clay and Apollo supervised the two while Phoenix went over some documents for an upcoming case.

"Have I met this guy before?" Clay casually asked Apollo.

Apollo squinted. "I think maybe once or twice. He's tall, broody, dresses in black and has a pet hawk. Kind of hard to miss." Athena glared at him. "What? That was accurate."

"He's not always moody!" Quickly she turned back around as Trucy dropped some of the bird-themed streamers. Athena picked the roll up and handed it back to Trucy, who was atop a stepladder, taping the streamers up.

"Uh, sure..." _So defensive of him lately,_ Apollo thought, again smart enough to not voice those thoughts.

Clay chuckled. "I think I've met him once, now that I think about it. Right after the hospital, maybe." Apollo's face flashed pain, and Athena looked over at him, frowning. Clay didn't notice. "All of your opponents in court have been really weird, it sounds like. You've had the toupee guy, the weird face mask dude with the coffee, that chick with a whip... Edgeworth might be the only normal one."

Apollo laughed. "Dude wears ruffles."

"...Point taken."

"It's a cravat!" Phoenix yelled from the other room.

"Sure, whatever," Apollo yelled back, and everyone laughed.

After an hour or so, the two ladies had completed putting up the decorations. Trucy had put together a miniature stage for a magic show ("I think I can do some bird tricks!" she exclaimed happily, causing Apollo to sigh and place his head in his hand), streamers were all over the place, and bird pictures hung on the wall. The cups had canaries on them, the plates featured robins, and somehow Athena had managed to snag a hawk statue without Apollo seeing it.

Clay fought to hold back laughter. "It looks really... nice. I'm sure he'll have a..."

_Oh no, _Apollo thought, knowing that tone._ Here they come.  
_  
"..._pheasant _time at the party." He began snickering, and Athena, having seen these fits before, started rolling her eyes, while Trucy giggled and watched on with interest.

"Clay..." Apollo started, but it was too late.

"There won't be any_ fowl _play here! If so, there'd be just _caws_ for some discipline!"

"Clay, no..." The bird puns were a hundred times worse than his usual space puns. Worse yet, he was trying to fit law terms in there as well.

Phoenix came out from the other room. "Someone stop him, I'm getting a headache," he joked.

Clay lost it. "You already rose from the ashes once!" He giggled himself into sitting down, more pleased that he was annoying Apollo than anything.

It was Athena's turn to interrupt, as Clay continued and Apollo got more and more frustrated with him. "Okay then, boss, I think I'm going to uh, head home. Tell Edgeworth we'll have the party Thursday after work!"

"Sure thing," Phoenix responded, eyes still on Clay and Apollo, a smirk playing on his face. "You two, you should head out too. Go on, spread your wings and fly." He laughed as Apollo whipped around and yelled for Phoenix to not encourage him.

Phoenix turned around and went back into his office, tidying up to go home. He glanced at the photo of him and Mia Fey from a few months before her untimely death. "You'd love the group," he said quietly, picking it up. "Maybe they're a bit too silly for your tastes, but you'd love them all the same." Sighing, he put the photo down as he heard Apollo and Clay leave. In a few days, he'd be throwing a party for a prosecutor. He smiled. Edgeworth will pretend not to be pleased, but he's going to totally love it.

With that, he turned the lights off and headed home for the night.

* * *

_Notes: Clay, obviously, is alive in this AU. Instead of dying at the space center, he sustained severe injuries, and during the trial, the Phantom attempted to kill him again. However, due to the stress of the situation, he wasn't at the top of his game and failed again, making it the first and second time he'd ever failed to complete a mission, adding to the frustration he felt near the end of the trial. Clay doesn't remember any of this but heard about it through Apollo and the others._


End file.
